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02 February 2016

Don't Drive Angry, Phil

The title of this post is one of my favorite lines/scenes from the movie "Groundhog Day."

Appropriate not only because today *is* Groundhog Day, but because it works in the theme for today's Ten on Tuesday:

10 Moments/Events/Days in Your Life You'd Like to Repeat

I'm not going to mention the obvious ones like graduations, weddings, etc. It's not that they weren't wonderful and memorable, but you want them to be that way. I want to include some of my quieter memories that show up occasionally, because they are the ones that I never want to lose.

1. When I was four years old, we lived in Teaneck, New Jersey. One day my dad came home from work and put a ball of white fluff on the floor - a kitten! She had been found in the parking lot of his office, and he didn't want her to starve/get hurt/continue life as a stray. This is the first family pet I remember. At the time, we didn't know if she was a boy or girl, so we named her Frosty. She was white angora. She lived to be 16, and we all loved her, though she really only ever loved my father.

2. In first grade, I got a stuffed dog for Christmas and I named him Augie Doggie (after a cartoon character). My dad said we didn't want him to get lost so he made him a dog tag out of a piece of cardboard with paper glued on. I remember sitting with him and making sure the he included all of the important information on that tag!

3. Christmas 1967. It was the last time we were all together as a family, with [seemingly] no worries, no sickness, and nothing terrible looming over us.

4. October 29, 1978. A week after we got married, we bought our first pet as a married couple. His name was Hop Sing, and he was a yellow canary. We used money we'd received as a wedding gift, as we had our priorities, you know! We weren't allowed to have dogs or cats in married student housing, but we could have small pets like birds or fish. Hop Sing was the best, and he completed our new little family.

5. Christmastime 1978. Our first Christmas as a married couple. We had so much fun decorating our small apartment and getting ready to go home and visit everyone!

6. Fall 1978. My first time attending a Notre Dame football game in person. The Tim went to grad school there, and at least at that time, all grad students got season tickets for themselves and a spouse for a truly minimal fee. I'd grown up in a family that had never set foot near the actual campus, but saw every game on TV (I learned people in this category were called "subway alumni"), so it was one of the most exciting things ever to actually attend the games!

7. July 4 holiday, 1988. We were home visiting my family, and my mother who failing rapidly from bone cancer. When we were leaving, I told her that as soon as my comprehensive exam was over for my master's degree on July 20, I'd come back and visit with her for a couple of weeks. She said, "I would love that." She died on July 14.

8. When we first moved to Washington, DC, one of my first job interviews was at the Library of Congress. I didn't have a library degree yet, but had many years of experience as a paraprofessional. Walking into the building to be interviewed was something I'll never forget!

9. Also in DC, I went to tea at the White House! I worked as an appointments secretary for a Senator, and all of us were invited to tea at the White House at the beginning of each legislative session. I was happy to go because a) tea at the White House, and b) the Reagans were out of town, and so I could go, because I HATED them and did not want to be there if they were! It was amazing, and the tea and cookies were some of the best I've ever had. Either because they were, or because it was all so exciting.

10. End of May 2004. The first time after my initial surgery when I could stand up completely straight without any discomfort at all. It made me think that the torture of the physical therapy was actually worth it, and that I really would be OK. :-)

I was just thinking how nice canaries are as pets. My mother always had one. They were all named Bing.I had tea in the White House once, or I was supposed to. The first Bush invited my class because he had mentioned us in some speech after reading about us in the Post. Unfortunately it was the morning of the big California earthquake so they had to fly out leaving us sipping our cuppas in the Capitol with a bunch of senators. We did get a tour of the White House and an eye popping trip through the rotunda. Good times.